CJRB Pocket EDC Knife - Ekko(J1929) Small Folding Knife AR-RPM9 Steel Blade and Natural Green G10 Outdoor for Men Women for Gifts

I LOVE this knife. After getting into sharpening, I've become somewhat of a knife nut and now have a collection of about 100 different pocket knives and outdoor/camping knives. If we consider a "budget knife" to be in the $70 and under range (thank inflation), then this is absolutely one of the best budget knives out there. The blade shape is what we'd call a "modified sheepsfoot." A great utility shape that normally has a flatter belly and low tip that lets you make easy draw cuts and such. This "modified" version of that blade shape lets the tip rise a little higher than normal, so that you will have an easier time using it to pierce if needed. This makes it more versatile. The blade stock is a hair thicker than I'd normally want, but the grind is solid and it gets nicely thin at the edge. It is robust enough for harder work without worry of breaking, but it'll still slice nicely. The knife runs on bearings in the pivot, so the opening action is nice and smooth. You can pull or reverse flick the knife open with the opening hole, or use the flipper tab to front flip with the side of your thumb. The button lock versions also let you hold the button and flick your wrist to open or close it. Ergonomics are superb. The handle design gently follows the curve of your hand, and the neutral flat space under the pivot lets you easily choke up right to the blade heel. There are precious few knives more comfortable in hand for me (XL men's glove), but I think it will work for a broad range of sizes. The RPM 9 steel is very easy to sharpen. Takes a nice edge, doesn't hold it forever, but long enough that most should have no complaints. All in all, great knife. Don't hesitate to buy it. If you're the type that likes to fidget with the opening/closing action, definitely go with one of the button lock versions. If you value a premium look and feel more, do the liner lock in green micarta. It feels so much more "upscale" in hand with the nice, soft micarta and contoured handle scales. The button locks are all flat-scaled, to my knowledge.

This is my third CJRB knife in addition to a Pyrite and Pyrite Alt, and it definitely lived up to my extremely high expectations!I absolutely love the blade geometry; the detent strength ended out perfect for a front-flipper (after a short break-in period); the blade came razor sharp and perfectly centered from the factory; and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the micarta, which strikes an excellent balance between smooth and fuzzy/grippy. After handling the liner-lock version a bit, I decided to go with the button-lock version, and I’m definitely glad I did. The non-contoured scales are actually quite nice, and CJRB’s button lock design is absolutely fantastic.However I do have one important note: when my knife showed up, the button lock was basically non-functional. It was near impossible to open the blade, and the button wouldn’t “pop up” into the locked position when the knife was open. However, these problems were caused by the micarta scale shifting (during shipment, I imagine), and they immediately disappeared when I loosened the bottom two screws affixing the scale to the frame.

This is a very attractive pocket knife for every day carry. The blade is CJRB's proprietary steel RPM9, which may or may not (probably isn't) powder metallurgy, but still is a fine steel and perfectly serviceable for an EDC. Personally I like the design; it has a cleaver-influenced blade shape I love. It opens and closes as you would expect, including one-handed and the button-lock is a nice improvement over the usual liner-lock in this class of knife. It's somewhat larger than it probably needs to be for EDC, though that depends on you, your use-case and your carrying tolerance as much as anything. The stainless scales look great and give it a "classy" "gentleman's" demeanor, but make the overall knife a bit heavy. Overall though I've carried this quite a bit and found it comfortable enough and very functional when I need to cut something.